Watch the video above and talk about it with a group or mentor. Learn more.
Women are gifted to engage the community in many enterprising ways, but whatever else they do, home and family come first.
Key Points:
- Life in the ancient world was different from today. First, almost all respectable women would be married. That’s not the case today, nor is it a biblical mandate.
- To “work in their homes” is the opposite of being a busybody who wastes time gossiping. Instead, 1 Timothy 5:14 tells these women to “take care of their own homes.”
- In Proverbs 31, we see an entrepreneurial woman who brings in income to the family. In that culture, this all took place from the home. But Western economies are not the same.
- In Titus 2, the crucial takeaway is that if you have a family, then family is the priority over one’s own desires or the needs of others.
- Putting this all together, Titus 2 seems to be saying to wives and mothers that whatever else they do, home and family come first.
Quote This:
Titus 2:4-5 These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, to live wisely and be pure, to work in their homes, to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they will not bring shame on the word of God.
Talk About It
- What is your initial reaction to this topic? What jumped out at you?
- Did your mom work outside the home? What effect did her decision have on your family life growing up?
- What are some of the reasons women choose to work outside the home? Which reasons do you think are valid or not valid?
- How do you know if and when outside activities (such as work) are hurting the family?
- What gender roles for husbands and wives do you think are mainly cultural versus biblical? Explain.
- What can a husband do to support his wife in living out the priorities in Titus 2?
- Write a personal action step based on this conversation.
